Method of recovering fibers from used textile materials



.No Drawing.

This invention relates to the treatment oi waste textile materials for purposes of separating undesirable strands and threads of material from valuable and usable fibers associated therewith,

5 andithasparticularrelationto aprocess otseparating rubber and similar more or less elastic threads and strands from wool and similar fibers which they may be combined in a textile 1o m'il'he main objects of the invention are to pro- A method of so treating textile fibers containing strands ofrubber or similar materials as will Y admit of removal of the rubber by such simple steps as dusting, beating or rolling;

.aprooeas which is simple and economical in pe ation; and,

A for the above indicated purposes which is relatively non-injurious to the fibers which are to be recovered.

textile fabrics containing rubber strands or I threads woven therein, by suitable treatment with chemical reagents, for example a vulcanizing as agent such as sulphur chloride, may be rendered hard and friable. In this conditionthey may be beaten or rolled from the accompanying fibers without material injury to the latter.

One source of material suitable for the purpose is'a fabric which comprises rubber strands. usually wound or sheathed with finer threads of wool or wool containing material. These rubber threads are cross-woven with ordinary wool or wool containing threads to vform'a fabric similar in appearance to ordinary wool cloth. The rein the. direction of extension of the rubber strands and only slight elasticity in a transverse direction; Such fabric is well adapted for use in 4 bathing suits, but it is also excellent for other uses where elasticity of the fabric is desirable.:

In one embodimentof the invention, rags of rubber containingfabri'c of the above indicated subdivision, placed in' a container such asa vacuum chamber and there subjected to the action of sulphur chloride. The rags may be placed upon a shelf or partition in th ntainer and the sulphin' chloride may be troduced into a wardly through the mass of chopped up rags by application of suction to the upper portion of the containen This application is continued for a 5 period of time sufiicient to insure hardening of METHOD OF COVERING FIBERS USED MATERIALS Ivan V. Wilson. Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Harrimao Chemical Company, Everett, Mass" a corporation of Massachusetts Application mutton. 193 4. SerialNo. 153,19:

a is asuitable agent;

Theinvention is based upon the discovery that hydrochloric acid vapors. v ployed at a temperature of the order of 1".

"Rant fabrics a hish ree of elasticity" 'drogen chloride. The vapors ma character are chopped up into a suitable state of 5o compartment or container therebeneath. Vapors of the sulphur chloride are then impelled up- PATENT orr cs the rubber threads to a friable, crumbly state. Ordinarily a period of from 4 to 8 hours is sufficient. However, this period may be adjusted as requiredby the character of the material and wor conditions. I Often or usually, the fabrics contain other fibers than wool and it is desirable to remove these as well as the strands of rubber from the wool. Examples of such undesired fibers are cotton, artificial silk, etc. These may be removed by what is termed "carbonization which, in or-. dinary practice, is effected by treating fibers with a suitable reagent such as a mineral acid or aluminumchlorlde. Sulphuricacid, for example,

The rags undergoing treatment are soaked in this acid at a concentration of about 8 Twaddell for' a period (e. g. overnight) and are then centrifuged and dried without wash-' ing at a temperature somewhat below 100 C. They are then baked at'lOO' C. for aperlod of about 4 hours.

The rubber threads in fabrics treated as above described are quite crumbly and are-decomposed into fine powder-like particles and are removed by the simple process of beating or dusting upon a wool dusting machine.

It will be appreciated that the carbonization of the cotton or similar fibers which are to be eliminated from the wool, may be effected either before or after treatment to harden the rubber. Carbonization may also be efiected by use of These should be emto 180 F. and they may be-obtained in any convenient way. One satisfactory method involves distillation of muriatic acid at the above temperature to obtain a vapor relatively rich in by- 7 also be obtained by bubbling or otherwise contacting a hot gas, such as air, with muriatic acid. The vapors I are conducted into a suitable acid resistant c'ontainer. Here they are caused to contact with the rags which may becontained in a tumbling canization may also be conducted simultaneously.

The invention, of course, is not limited to the use of sulphur chloride in vapor phase. For example, a preferred embodiment of the invention involves the addition of the chloride to a suitable solvent such as petroleum naphtha in which the rags or comminuted textile material may be im- Sulphur chloride 5 fabrics more quickly than naphthas of lowerv' a} porpressure. v

In one application of the invention, sulp!iur chloride in the proportion of 160 cm. was

with mom. naphtha. A 300 gram portionor chopped up woolen raga containing rubber j a relativ ly wid r ng or a l the ,i strands orthreads wereallowed to soakwith oc,-, j s table represents me w m 9 m u -1 m m 1m a ri d of invention. All-f these, by actual M, were about 1% hours. 'lhe liquor was thendrained found to result in the hardeningo fll rubber from the fibers, after which-the latter were suh- I a d t e e was but s i t. it damase tethe lectsd to rinsingin three successive 800' cm. por wool fibers which were mhlec d 'h' tions of naphtha. Excess naphtha s v I drained from the fibers, after each a oo- M2,,

It was found that about-500 cm. 0! one-sixth 3g: nap mom of the original sulphur chloride-naphtha bath was carried over into the firstrinsingbath by Y mm the wool. This represented approximateiyflg 1 -s as lo 1 moi.'sulphurchlorideand47 5cm. otnaphtha.," 'gg 3, if

- This amount of material manor course. be'rein m m 1 duced by running the fibers through'suitable g 3 I 3 """1. rollers before introducing into the am m so 10 '1 bath. 'Itisdesirabletocompensatelorthisioss 9 g g i of sulphur chloride and naphtha in t at is 4 treating bath by the introduction r equivalent lg a }3 .l portionsoisulphurchlorideandnaphthaafter I t g am: 3'? r ez It appeared from the results of the tests that treating bath may he 'oohtlhued'lhseshltely mnmdmphurmmmm It is round that there is a gradual accumula- 3 mm tion 01- sulphur chloride carried over from the m m a firstbathintotherinsingbathsand'aftera' -mmbm M *5 number oi portions of raga have been treated n; the action (generally approximately!) the eohoehtreuon "W g" or sulphur chlorldeinthefirstrinsingbath ggw m becomessogreatthatrinsingthereinbecomes a w M M or "ems-e: more e. m=- then be fortified by additional sulphurchloride g I no to mm thematerial carried-away m from the first or treating-bath. Of course, the a M w M to second rinsing bath then becomes the first and .0010: Under 7 so on It willbe apparent thattheonlylossoi'sulphmchlorideandnaph- ,tha occurs through evaporation from the baths and by reason of the carrying; of naphtha from the final rinsing bath bythe fibers. -"l'.his naphtha may be recovered by slgtable condensing apparatus in conventional manner. r

Woolen rags containing rubber fibers treated as above'described may be carbonized fol-the removal cotton or artificial silk contained therein by of the reagents described in connection with the treatment oi the rags with Japorous-sulphur chloride. l'br example, sulphuric acid oi approximately 5.5 so. may be used.

.00 T e rags may be placed in this bath over night and then subjected to centritugation at a term perature below 100' 0. These rags are also v baked, as previously described in connection with the first embodiment of the invention, for a' pcriod oi four hours at C.

- The proportions 0! ingredients in the above example are, of course, for laboratory scale work.

A larger scale application involves the use 0! ingredients in the following proportions:

"6 gallons Naphtha 114 gallons Wool 100 pounds upon such eehle, arterthe doors have been over-vulcanization by other means as. for exnaphtha. 4 I

that. the proportions It will be appreciated and sulphur chloride, as well as the periods required for treatment, may be varied over the step of carbonisation may be eliminated. "Sulphur chloride has'been specifically described as a preferred agent tor rubberstrands, however, .it.is'also intended to include other ingredients for thesame purpose. For example, the strands may be subjected to ample by application at the so-called Peachey' process which involves alternate treatments with hydrogensulphide sulphur dioxide. Although only the preferred and more obviou applications or the invention have been described itwillbeappreclatedthattheinventionhnot limitedtothesespecifici'ormsbutthat numu'oui parture from the spirit oiLthe' invention or scopeoi'theappendedclaims. I

woolen textiles containing them which comprises selectively hardening the rubber strandstextile fibers containing them which comprises vulcanizing the strands until they are hard and What I claim is:- l. A method of removing rubber strands from by means of a chemical reagent adapted to convert the rubber into a friable condition and then crumbling and dusting them from-the fibers.

2. A method of removing rubber strands from friable and then dusting them from-the fibers.

3. A method of removing rubber strands from woolen textile materials containing them com-' prising vulcanizing the strands in the fibers until they are hard and friable and-then dusting them from the fibers in pulverulent state.

4. A method of removing rubber strands from I textile fibers which comprisesexposing the fiber material containing the strands to the action of sulphur chloride until they are hard and friable and then dusting the strands from the fiber.

5. A method of removing rubber strands from woolen textile materials which comprises exposing the material to the action of sulphur chloride until the strands are hard and friable and then dusting them from the fiber. I

6. A method as defined in claim 6 in whichthe sulphur chloride is employed in vapor phase.

7. A method as defined in claim 6 in which thesulphur chloride is dissolved in a suitable solvent.

'ber. r

11. A method as defined in claim 10 in which 15 9. A method as defined in claim 3 in which the textile material is furthersubjected to carbonization for the removal of cotton and similar 5 10. A method of removing rubber strands. from textile fibers containing them which comprises introducing the fibers into a bath containing a selective hardening agent for the rubber dis- 10 solved in a neutral solvent, then rinsing the I treated fibers in a bath of the same solvent, drying the fibers and dusting out the hardened rubthe rinsing bath after use is reinforced withadditlonal hardening agent and then used for replenishing the treating bath.

12. A method of treating rubber strands preparatory tovremoving them from woolen textile 20 materials which comprises immersing the material in a bath of sulphur chloride dissolved in petroleum naphtha until the rubber is rendered hard and friable, then washing the material with I additional naphtha, and afterthe naphthahas 25 become materially mixed with sulphur chloride,

reinforcing it with additional sulphur chloride 7 and using it to replenish the treating bath.

IVAN V. WILSON. 80.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,075,916.;-

' March 16, 1937.

IvAN'v. WILSON.

It is' hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Page 2',

first column, .line 15, for "300 cm. read 3000 cm. page 3, first column, lines 2'7 and 29, claims 6' and '7, and second column, line 1, claim 8, for

v the reference numeral "6" read 5; and second column, line 3-, claim 9; for the reference numeral "3" read 2; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of July, A. D. 1937.

ism)

Acting Commissioner of'Patents.

woolen textiles containing them which comprises selectively hardening the rubber strandstextile fibers containing them which comprises vulcanizing the strands until they are hard and What I claim is:- l. A method of removing rubber strands from by means of a chemical reagent adapted to convert the rubber into a friable condition and then crumbling and dusting them from-the fibers.

2. A method of removing rubber strands from friable and then dusting them from-the fibers.

3. A method of removing rubber strands from woolen textile materials containing them com-' prising vulcanizing the strands in the fibers until they are hard and friable and-then dusting them from the fibers in pulverulent state.

4. A method of removing rubber strands from I textile fibers which comprisesexposing the fiber material containing the strands to the action of sulphur chloride until they are hard and friable and then dusting the strands from the fiber.

5. A method of removing rubber strands from woolen textile materials which comprises exposing the material to the action of sulphur chloride until the strands are hard and friable and then dusting them from the fiber. I

6. A method as defined in claim 6 in whichthe sulphur chloride is employed in vapor phase.

7. A method as defined in claim 6 in which thesulphur chloride is dissolved in a suitable solvent.

'ber. r

11. A method as defined in claim 10 in which 15 9. A method as defined in claim 3 in which the textile material is furthersubjected to carbonization for the removal of cotton and similar 5 10. A method of removing rubber strands. from textile fibers containing them which comprises introducing the fibers into a bath containing a selective hardening agent for the rubber dis- 10 solved in a neutral solvent, then rinsing the I treated fibers in a bath of the same solvent, drying the fibers and dusting out the hardened rubthe rinsing bath after use is reinforced withadditlonal hardening agent and then used for replenishing the treating bath.

12. A method of treating rubber strands preparatory tovremoving them from woolen textile 20 materials which comprises immersing the material in a bath of sulphur chloride dissolved in petroleum naphtha until the rubber is rendered hard and friable, then washing the material with I additional naphtha, and afterthe naphthahas 25 become materially mixed with sulphur chloride,

reinforcing it with additional sulphur chloride 7 and using it to replenish the treating bath.

IVAN V. WILSON. 80.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,075,916.;-

' March 16, 1937.

IvAN'v. WILSON.

It is' hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Page 2',

first column, .line 15, for "300 cm. read 3000 cm. page 3, first column, lines 2'7 and 29, claims 6' and '7, and second column, line 1, claim 8, for

v the reference numeral "6" read 5; and second column, line 3-, claim 9; for the reference numeral "3" read 2; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 6th day of July, A. D. 1937.

ism)

Acting Commissioner of'Patents. 

